• Facebook’s sister company WhatsApp cautioned its users against receiving international calls from Kenya, Ethiopia, Malaysia and Vietnam
  • The messaging App flagged International Subscriber Dialing (ISD) codes +254, +84 and +63 over suspected scam concerns from users
  • WhatsApp users took to rival social media Twitter, raising concerns about receiving unknown calls

WhatsApp messaging App has cautioned its users against receiving unknown international calls.

A WhatsApp user making a call. Photo: WhatsApp. Source: UGC

A WhatsApp user making a call. Photo: WhatsApp. Source: UGC© Provided by Tuko

The Meta-owned platform flagged calls from Kenya, Ethiopia, Malaysia and Vietnam over suspected fraud.

Kenya’s international calling code

This came as users raised concerns over receiving random unknown calls from International Subscriber Dialing (ISD) codes +254, +84 and +63.

WhatsApp users in India took their complaints to rival social media Twitter, sharing screenshots of the suspected calls, NDTV reported.

The social media platform said it is committed to ensuring user safety and privacy that can shield them from scammers.

”WhatsApp is an industry leader in preventing abuse among end-to-end encrypted messaging services, and over the years, we have made significant product investments and launched user awareness campaigns that empower users to stay safe,” said WhatsApp.

The firm urged users to block and report suspicious messages/calls to combat scams effectively.

WhatsApp serves over two billion active users per month, statistics that keep fraudsters on the radar of users.

It said it has invested heavily in technology, including artificial intelligence aimed at keeping users’ data safe.

”Additionally, we have consistently invested in Artificial Intelligence and other state-of-the-art technology, data scientists and experts, and in processes, in order to keep our users safe on our platform,” the company added.

The app further urged users to utilise in-built product features and safety tools like Two-Step Verification, Block and Report, and Privacy controls, as safeguards against online scams.

Elon Musk accuse WhatsApp of privacy infringement

Twitter Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk recently took a swipe on WhatsApp over privacy infringement.

This is after the messaging app user accused the platform of recording him secretly while asleep between 4:20 am and 6:53 am.

WhatsApp said the issue could be due to a bug on Android, but Twitter users could not buy the response saying most apps secretly record users’ data.